Coupling device.



110.846.4091. PATENTED MAR. 5, 1907.

v. DB P. GAA. COUPLING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED D30. 3, 1906.

2 91' has); 04/; I (db/fa.

rue: co., wlmnmarou n c UNITED srarns rnrnrrr OFFICE.

VINCENT DE P. GAA, OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO ROBERT W. STIMSON, OF RICHMOND, INDIANA.

COUPLING DEVICE- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 5, 1907.

Application filed December 3,1906- Yierifil 34 088- .To all whom, it 712,017. c/tccrm Be it known that I, VINCENT DE P. GAA, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Richmond, in the county of WVayne, and in the State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coupling Devices, of which the following is a full and accurate specification and exposition, being such as will enable others skilled IO in the art to which my invention relates to make and operate the same with absolute exactitude.

My present invention relates, broadly, to couplings intended more particularly for I 5 employment in connection with metal bedsteads or the like; and the object of my invention, broadly speaking, is the provision of improved couplings which will be simple in character, strong and durable in construction, easily operated and controlled, and which will give a maximum of efficiency with a minimum of material and expense.

Another object is to provide a coupling composed of interdependent and cooperating interrelated elements so arranged and combined as to give the required rigidity to the coupled elements and at same time requiring very simple operations to couple and uncouple the parts, and, finally, a more spe- 0 cific object is to provide a coupling device for bedsteads which will be positive in action without danger of inadvertent displace ment and for allowing the bed-rails to be interchangeable and reversible.

3 5 Other specific and particular objects and advantages of my invention will be brought out in the course of the ensuing specification and which will be accentuated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a.

part of this specification, I have shown my invention applied to bedsteads, in which-- Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a portion of a bedstead, showing my coupling in 4 5 operative engagement. Fig. 2 shows the same as the upper portion of Fig. 1 except that the bed-rail is reversed and turned over. Fig. 3 is a detail plan view as of the upper parts shown in Fig. 1: Fig. 4 shows a side elevation of one of the coupling elements which I denominate the male member. Fig. 5 shows a vertical sectional view of the parts shown in Fig. 3 as taken on the line X X of said view, and Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view as taken on the line Z Z of Fig. 5.

Similar indices denote and refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

With all of the above-designated views in 6.0 mind. I will now take up a detail description of the invention, in which I will set forth the construction and operation thereof as briefly and as compactly as I may.

The letter A designates a vertical post of 6; a bedstead, and the letter B denotes a tie for permanently connecting two head or foot posts in the usual manner, and the letter O refers to a bed-rail formed, preferably, of angle-iron, or it may be of any other suitable form.

The invention consists in the clamping device, which is divided for convenience of description into two sections, which I will denominate as the male and the female 7 5 sections. The male section comprises the base or ferrule portion 1, which is pern1a nently secured around and to the post A, and the head 2, which. extends out from the former, as shown in the drawings. Said head is provided with a comparatively large face 3. Said face is formed straight vertically, but is formed at an angle horizontally, as is shown most decisively in Figs. 3 and 6. Extending outwardly and upwardly from 8 5 the lower portion of the center of the face I 3 is the hook member 4, all parts of which are substantially square in cross-section, and the upwardly-extending portion of said hook is located some distance from said face, 0 with the outer edge of said hook substantially parallel to the face 3, as shown in Figs.

4 and 5. Said parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 are preferably formed integral with each other, as indicated in the drawings. The female member 9 5 comprises the body 10, which is permanently secured to the end of the rail O in any wellknown manner. Extending out parallel with each other from the body 10 are the two identical arms 1.1 and 12, which are of I00 same width as the body except at their outer portions, where they expand gradually to the width of the head 2, as shown in the drawings. The space between the members 11 and 12 .is infinitesimally more than is the width of the tongue 4, which is adapted to operate therein. The arm 12 is slightly longer than is its consort, the arm 11, and the faces 13 and 14 of the respective arms are formed to fit and contact with the face 3, above referred to, whereby the female member is in alinement with the male member and they likewise being in alinement with the rail C, as shown in Fig. 3. Extending across between the members 1]. and 12 is the key 15, which extends through said arms and is rigidly secured thereto in any well-known manner. Said key is located in the center vertically of said arms and slightly outward from their centers hori zontally, as indicated.

The second female member, which is secured on the opposite end of the rail, is in all respects like the one above described, and its several parts are indicated on the drawings by like numerals primed as is indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, this second female memher being adapted for engagement with a second male member (not shown) or, if turned over, to be engaged with above-described male member.

Operation: It will now be apparent that with the post A carrying the male member, which may appropriately be termed the permanent member,in the position shown in Fig. 1, that the rail C, carrying the female member, which may with equal aptitude be termed the movable member, may be brought into horizontal position, first bringing the lower portions of the faces 13 14 to and in alinement with the upper portion of the face 3, then allowing the female member to be lowered, which will enter the outer portion of the hook 4 in between the arms 11 and 12 and between the key 15 and the body 10. By the above it will be manifest that the inner curvature of the hook 4 will engage the key 15, acting as a wedge to cause the outer vertical face of the hook 1 to engage the inner face of the body 10, as shown most clearly in Figs. 5 and 3.

By reason of the angular formation of the faces 13, 14, and 3 it is apparent that great tractive power is exerted to lock the members together, yet at the same time allowing for them to be readily separated when the female member is lifted up.

In Fig. 1 the channel of the rail 0 is shown uppermost, and now if it be desired to turn the channel down to present a flat surface of the rail uppermost, then I have only to reverse the rail-that is to say, turn the rail end for endand then the second female member of the rail may then be engaged with the male member, as shown in Fig. 2.

Having now fully shown and described my invention and the best mode for its construction to me known at this time, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

In a coupling device, the combination of a male member secured to a vertical post and having a head with a face parallel with the post but formed on an angle horizontally, a hook integral with the male member and extending outward and upward from said face parallel with the body of the male member but at an angle with relation to its face, said hook having an outer vertical face parallel with said post, the female member comprising a body secured to a relatively horizontal rail, two arms of unequal lengths extending out from said body and spaced apart with the faces of said arms adapted to contact with the face of the male member, a round key extending across between said arms whereby said hook may be inserted between said arms and between said key and the body of the female member to lock the members in engagement with each other.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

VINCENT DE P. GAA. 

